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    • Hi LFI, Your knowledge in this area is greater than I could possibly hope to have and as such I appreciate your feedback. I'm not sure that I agree the reason why a barrister would say that, only to get new customers, I'm sure he must have had professional experience in this area that qualifies him to make that point. 🙂 In your point 1 you mention: 1] there is a real danger that some part of the appeal will point out that the person appealing [the keeper ] is also the driver. I understand the point you are making but I was referring to when the keeper is also the driver and admits it later and only in this circumstance, but I understand what you are saying. I take on board the issues you raise in point 2. Is it possible that a PPC (claimant) could refer back to the case above as proof that the motorist should have appealed, like they refer back to other cases? Thanks once again for the feedback.
    • Well barristers would say that in the hope that motorists would go to them for advice -obviously paid advice.  The problem with appealing is at least twofold. 1] there is a real danger that some part of the appeal will point out that the person appealing [the keeper ] is also the driver.  And in a lot of cases the last thing the keeper wants when they are also the driver is that the parking company knows that. It makes it so much easier for them as the majority  of Judges do not accept that the keeper and the driver are the same person for obvious reasons. Often they are not the same person especially when it is a family car where the husband, wife and children are all insured to drive the same car. On top of that  just about every person who has a valid insurance policy is able to drive another person's vehicle. So there are many possibilities and it should be up to the parking company to prove it to some extent.  Most parking company's do not accept appeals under virtually any circumstances. But insist that you carry on and appeal to their so called impartial jury who are often anything but impartial. By turning down that second appeal, many motorists pay up because they don't know enough about PoFA to argue with those decisions which brings us to the second problem. 2] the major parking companies are mostly unscrupulous, lying cheating scrotes. So when you appeal and your reasons look as if they would have merit in Court, they then go about  concocting a Witness Statement to debunk that challenge. We feel that by leaving what we think are the strongest arguments to our Member's Witness Statements, it leaves insufficient time to be thwarted with their lies etc. And when the motorists defence is good enough to win, it should win regardless of when it is first produced.   
    • S13 (2)The creditor may not exercise the right under paragraph 4 to recover from the keeper any unpaid parking charges specified in the notice to keeper if, within the period of 28 days beginning with the day after that on which that notice was given, the creditor is given— (a)a statement signed by or on behalf of the vehicle-hire firm to the effect that at the material time the vehicle was hired to a named person under a hire agreement; (b)a copy of the hire agreement; and (c)a copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer under that hire agreement. As  Arval has complied with the above they cannot be pursued by EC----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S14 [1]   the creditor may recover those charges (so far as they remain unpaid) from the hirer. (2)The conditions are that— (a)the creditor has within the relevant period given the hirer a notice in accordance with sub-paragraph (5) (a “notice to hirer”), together with a copy of the documents mentioned in paragraph 13(2) and the notice to keeper; (b)a period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the notice to hirer was given has elapsed;  As ECP did not send copies of the documents to your company and they have given 28 days instead of 21 days they have failed to comply with  the Act so you and your Company are absolved from paying. That is not to say that they won't continue asking to be paid as they do not have the faintest idea how PoFA works. 
    • Euro have got a lot wrong and have failed to comply with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 Schedule 4.  According to Section 13 after ECP have written to Arval they should then send a NTH to the Hirer  which they have done.This eliminates Arval from any further pursuit by ECP. When they wrote to your company they should have sent copies of everything that they asked Arval for. This is to prove that your company agree what happened on the day of the breach. If ECP then comply with the Act they are allowed to pursue the hirer. If they fail, to comply they cannot make the hirer pay. They can pursue until they are blue in the face but the Hirer is not lawfully required to pay them and if it went to Court ECP would lose. Your company could say who was driving but the only person that can be pursued is the Hirer, there does not appear to be an extension for a driver to be pursued. Even if there was, because ECP have failed miserably to comply with the Act  they still have no chance of winning in Court. Here are the relevant Hire sections from the Act below.
    • Thank-you FTMDave for your feedback. May I take this opportunity to say that after reading numerous threads to which you are a contributor, I have great admiration for you. You really do go above and beyond in your efforts to help other people. The time you put in to help, in particular with witness statements is incredible. I am also impressed by the way in which you will defer to others with more experience should there be a particular point that you are not 100% clear on and return with answers or advice that you have sought. I wish I had the ability to help others as you do. There is another forum expert that I must also thank for his time and patience answering my questions and allowing me to come to a “penny drops” moment on one particular issue. I believe he has helped me immensely to understand and to strengthen my own case. I shall not mention who it is here at the moment just in case he would rather I didn't but I greatly appreciate the time he took working through that issue with me. I spent 20+ years of working in an industry that rules and regulations had to be strictly adhered to, indeed, exams had to be taken in order that one had to become qualified in those rules and regulations in order to carry out the duties of the post. In a way, such things as PoFA 2012 are rules and regulations that are not completely alien to me. It has been very enjoyable for me to learn these regulations and the law surrounding them. I wish I had found this forum years ago. I admit that perhaps I had been too keen to express my opinions given that I am still in the learning process. After a suitable period in this industry I became Qualified to teach the rules and regulations and I always said to those I taught that there is no such thing as a stupid question. If opinions, theories and observations are put forward, discussion can take place and as long as the result is that the student is able to clearly see where they went wrong and got to that moment where the penny drops then that is a valuable learning experience. No matter how experienced one is, there is always something to learn and if I did not know the answer to a question, I would say, I don't know the answer to that question but I will go and find out what the answer is. In any posts I have made, I have stated, “unless I am wrong” or “as far as I can see” awaiting a response telling me what I got wrong, if it was wrong. If I am wrong I am only too happy to admit it and take it as a valuable learning experience. I take the point that perhaps I should not post on other peoples threads and I shall refrain from doing so going forward. 🤐 As alluded to, circumstances can change, FTMDave made the following point that it had been boasted that no Caggers, over two years, who had sent a PPC the wrong registration snotty letter, had even been taken to court, let alone lost a court hearing .... but now they have. I too used the word "seemed" because it is true, we haven't had all the details. After perusing this forum I believe certain advice changed here after the Beavis case, I could be wrong but that is what I seem to remember reading. Could it be that after winning the above case in question, a claimant could refer back to this case and claim that a defendant had not made use of the appeal process, therefore allowing the claimant to win? Again, in this instance only, I do not know what is to be gained by not making an appeal or concealing the identity of the driver, especially if it is later admitted that the defendant was the driver and was the one to input the incorrect VRN in error. So far no one has educated me as to the reason why. But, of course, when making an appeal, it should be worded carefully so that an error in the appeal process cannot be referred back to. I thought long and hard about whether or not to post here but I wanted to bring up this point for discussion. Yes, I admit I have limited knowledge, but does that mean I should have kept silent? After I posted that I moved away from this forum slightly to find other avenues to increase my knowledge. I bought a law book and am now following certain lawyers on Youtube in the hope of arming myself with enough ammunition to use in my own case. In one video titled “7 Reasons You Will LOSE Your Court Case (and how to avoid them)” by Black Belt Barrister I believe he makes my point by saying the following, and I quote: “If you ignore the complaint in the first instance and it does eventually end up in court then it's going to look bad that you didn't co-operate in the first place. The court is not going to look kindly on you simply ignoring the company and not, let's say, availing yourself of any kind of appeal opportunities, particularly if we are talking about parking charge notices and things like that.” This point makes me think that, it is not such a bizarre judgement in the end. Only in the case of having proof of payment and inputting an incorrect VRN .... could it be worthwhile making a carefully worded appeal in the first instance? .... If the appeal fails, depending on the reason, surely this could only help if it went to court? As always, any feedback gratefully received.
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      The judge's reasoning is very useful and will certainly be helpful in any other cases relating to third-party rights where the customer has contracted with the courier company by using a broker.
      This is generally speaking the problem with using PackLink who are domiciled in Spain and very conveniently out of reach of the British justice system.

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I was travelling with a valid ticket. I was stopped by a ticket inspector, checked and marked my ticket.

Whilst she was serving the customer opposite I rubbed it off, dunno why really. I am of a nervous disposition those are the kinds of things I do, always doodling, pacing around etc. Don't always put thought into all my actions.

I was sent a letter (to the wrong address mind, they asked for my drivers licence so this isn't my doing) saying that was trying to defraud the company. I can see why but honestly (and lets be honest why would I lie on a forum) wasn't trying to.

Sent a letter explaining that I wasn't doing it deliberately, no intent etc just me being a fool and rubbing it off. Also told them they had my wrong address.

Just got a reply saying that I was sat opposite the head of business who has written a statement to say that it was deliberate and the case will proceed. To the wrong address again.

Basically, I feel like I am in the ****. Any ideas on what kind of action will be taken against me? Has anyone any experience of a similar situation to this and how it resolved?

The annoying bit is that I always travel with this train company and always pay for a ticket.

Any help in the matter would be appreciated.

David

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I don't think I have Aspergers Syndrome to be honest, and if I do, then I'd have to go and get it diagnosed before it could work to my defence. :razz:

Quite honestly I now realise I'm at liability, because I did deface the ticket, even though it was only a little miniscule biro squiggle and I did so in a moment of absent-minded daydreaming. I haven't done it to reuse the ticket or anything like that, this was my only time in the timeframe of the return that I travelled along this route or was planning to. Usually I just get singles, if it was a single it wouldn't have been an issue. Just dont really want the whole hassle of court as I've never been before, first offence etc, and I wasn't actively trying to defraud but proving otherwise may prove tricky.

Also in the second letter a different date has been written down to that of the day that I travelled on this route.

Just want to know what course of action is likely.

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Yeah, I must admit that I haven't really given the biggest picture possible here. I'm 22 by the way, just graduated, clean record.

I had my ticket checked, the woman did a little biro w squiggle and I rubbed it off straight away why she was serving the customer opposite. They'll be thinking that I wanted to re-use my ticket again. I still had another leg of the journey to travel though which takes about 2 hours. I keep saying these things but it still doesn't make it feel any more believable if I was on their side and reserving complete skepticism. I can see why I've acted like I am master defrauder of train systems with my eraser like thumb but it honestly wasn't the case.

So when I've rubbed it off she's come back and marked it less ambiguously, a HUGE squiggle. I've thanked her and thought 'geez thats odd to have her come back and mark it with a HUGE squiggle,' but didn't REALLY think anything of it. Not until I left the train. Asked by two transport inspectors a series of questions, read my rights etc. I think that represents a transport caution...

Have I used the ticket before? - No.

Was I planning to use the ticket again? - No.

Was I planning to re-do the journey any time during the next month? - Not that I know of.

Have you ever rubbed the stamp off before with intent of reusing the ticket? - No, I don't think so. Maybe when I was a wee kid but not that I know of. (DUNNO WHY I SAID THIS)

Do you accept that you rubbed the stamp off the ticket? - Yes.

Why did you do this? - No motive.

There must have been a reason. - I just did it without thinking about it. No motive.

 

I think that was the general jist of proceedings.

They then sent me a letter to ask me to explain my actions which I did.

Absent mindedness, nervous disposition, ignorance I was doing anything wrong, no intention to defraud, please use a pen that cant be rubbed off in future.

 

They've written back to tell me that the person on the table opposite was Head of Business of the train company who saw me use my thumb to rub off the ticket and then lick my thumb and carry on. It then says that I scrupilously checked the ticket for any evidence. I don't agree with that bit, I was in no way thorough and to be honest even after alighting there was still a bit visible. Just a victim of my own personality but seeing as I've already tried to explain my actions and this has been fruitless, and furthermore the train company sees no reason why 'the case should not continue' any advice would be great. Also as I haven't actually dodged any fares or defrauded them in any way, settlements also seem a bit unfair but I need some sort of resolution to this and hope that the resolution won't be 'guilty in court'. Because that would suck.

I'm also currently unemployed having just finished uni, but I think disclosing that might count against me rather than for me as that would provide a motive to try and re-use the ticket I suppose. Thanks for your help all.

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If it is as you suggest it is, maybe you should just go to court. You say that you feel it would be unfair to offer the company any compensation etc, as you weren't intending to defraud them of any money. That being the case, court might be the better option. What are they charging you with? Byelaw 20.1 or 20.2 I would imagine (although the ticket itself and its original state wasn't altered, I'd imagine this covers stamps that an authorised official puts on them, too), that being the case, you should plead not guilty of either of those, as you had no intention of reusing the ticket. Simples.

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Several things:

 

If they copied your address from your drivers licence, and the address is your old one, then there is an offence (which the railway aren't interested in) of failing to notify DVLA. If, when they asked you for something with your name and address on, you allowed them to take 'the wrong address', then you may have committed an offence, byelaw 23.

 

The offence of 'altering a ticket' does require proof that you intended to defraud the railway. (From memory, defraud may be too strong a word, but in someway avoid a fare)

 

At a practical level, if you indicate that you are 'not guilty', I am not sure that the 'fat controller' will want to spend one of his days going to Court, but they could be under pressure from him to 'do something'. Mind that they do not become 'vindictive', and take you to court for the 'false address'.

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An aside but I thought that marking tickets with pens was frowned upon by ATOC and they should always make a printed mark with ticket stampers designed for the job.

Clippers were withdrawn not from H&S in my old company but as:

a) one clip on a number 5 could have been done on any train and so they are untraceable compared with coded stampers.

b) the punched out parts make a right mess up & down trains and stations.

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a Pen mark on a ticket means nothing, i'm sure there are some guidelines somewhere, which train operator ws it?

Views expressed in this forum by me are my own personal opinion and you take it on face value! I make any comments to the best of my knowledge but you take my advice at your own risk.

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Ok, a few notes:

1. I didn't give them the wrong address so cannot be done under that byelaw, I gave them my DVLA card and they must have copied the address down wrong. Was not an error on my part.

2. What does H&S mean? This point I made to them in the letter I sent to them, basically saying that I hadn't actively thought about rubbing away the mark, but if it was marked with something that I couldn't have rubbed away then there's no problem. I would imagine that ATOC would frown upon this and there should be some law to say that you cant just do a little biro squiggle, it should be checked properly in my opinion and that means some official stamp.

3. In response to RPI, are you sure about this? It was CrossCountry trains. As aformentioned, I said in the reply if they had used a proper method of marking then there wouldn't have been any worry. In their reply they said that there were guidelines for marking tickets and this met them (somehow, not sure how). Also said that I was sitting opposite the lady that was head of business support for the company and saw me rub it away with intent and scrupilously check the mark was removed before returning it to my wallet. I will imagine that her statement will go some way for them making a quite easily resolved case against me, depending on how strongly she pushes what she believed she saw. I did wipe away the mark - or else I wouldn't be in trouble, but the way that she said I did it is just going a huge way far in my opinion. No intent to defraud, but yes, an intent to wipe the mark.

 

It's a huge error on my part to do it, but I didn't really try to get away with any fares, had a ticket, was an idiot etc. Just don't know how easily XC will be able to prove my 'intent to defraud' that is all. The sad thing is if it does go to court I really don't know how well 'I don't know why I did it' is going to look really. Hence why I am a trifle worried despite the stupid cirumstances.

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And also, I'm not hugely worried if I just have to go to court and get a fine. Unless it's astronomical. Yes, it would be a trifle unfair considering the circumstances but **** happens and they have viewed my actions badly. I just don't want a criminal record as I'm not one, so having the brand of someone that is, is a worry to me. Does anyone know or can guess what they believe the punishments to be if I was found guilty of trying to defraud. Given A) I had a ticket. B) No attempt to avoid inspector. C) Complete compliance with guards, no motive stated in questions. D) Written back to express my views and that there was no motive. It's the eye witness that worries me though, given she is head of business support at the company, if she believed I was trying to be ultra discreet about it or plays it up in court then what is my defence really?

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National Railways Byelaw 20 says

 

(1) No person shall alter a rail ticket in any way with the intent that an operator shall be defrauded or predjudiced

(2) No person shall knowingly use any ticket which has been altered in any way in breach of Byelaw 20(1)

 

You have said you didn't intend to re-use the ticket and I guess it depends on what the detail in the statement from the witness says, whether they believe they have a strong case.

 

I don't think you have any argument that you didn't give a wrong address. If you handed an inspector your driving licence when he or she asked for confirmation of your address, they cannot be blamed for writing down the details of what you gave them.

 

If it was not your current address you would certainly be likely to be charged with giving a false address if they later discovered that it was incorrect. It was up to you to tell them that was out of date and give your proper address.

 

Coupled with the fact that you have said that you did remove the examination mark made by the inspector, and have said you did let him take an old address, knowing that you didn't live there, it's a matter of whether or not they feel they can prove that you intended to use the ticket again after that check and I'm sure they will point to the claim of giving a false address as part of that evidence.

Edited by Old-CodJA
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I was sent a letter (to the wrong address mind, they asked for my drivers licence so this isn't my doing)

 

So if you gave your correct address, first time by showing your driver's licence and that address is correct, how is it that they sent you a letter to a different address if you didn't give it to them?

 

I'm confused on that bit.

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When I got off the train they didn't ask me for my address, they asked me for identification. They then took my identification whilst I was questioned, and returned it later on. At no point was I asked for my address, that I can remember anyway, although my mind was whirling. The address they have is one of my neighbours 5 doors down. Hence they've just replaced the number 2 with a 3. For instance from 222 to 232. A copying error.

Edited by littleandroidman
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